“Yeah, right, no one here should put their own life or others’ at risk unless you have a really good reason for tha--” Leyna said, nodding to the arachnid mage’s words instinctively. However, her sentence came to a sudden halt when her senses finally caught up to her thoughts and she noticed that not only she was agreeing with a talking, giant-spider person, but that she was agreeing with a talking, giant-spider person that crept behind her without Leyna even noticing.

“Ahh-- Anyway, I guess that we should g-- get going. I think that if we do-- don’t dilly dally too much, we may be able to reach the ruins before it gets dark. A-- According to my notes, they aren’t supposed to be so far from Venne,” Leyna said, coughing here and there to try and disguise her stuttering voice as she walked forward, taking the scout position naturally.

“I… sorry for that, I wasn’t thinking things through. I suppose even legends from the past have things they don’t want to talk about,” Kirsi said in a somewhat dejected tone after her attempt to raise a bond with Caster failed. Or at least she thought so, considering the Servant’s answer to her question.

In situations like this, understanding each others’ motives and interests would make their teamwork even better, but it seemed like Kirsi didn’t have the social skills for that, or at least she believed not to.

Thankfully, the perceived awkwardness wouldn’t last for long given that they had finally reached their destination. The creaking of an old mausoleum’s entrance was the only sign of their arrival that anyone would have any chance of noticing before Kirsi quickly made it to the Church’s backdoor. “It’ll be better if we avoid the streets, right? It’s very likely someone will try to ambush us if we stay in the open for long,” the smallish blonde said as she knocked at the door, hoping that someone would answer them quickly. If that didn’t work, they would have to invite themselves in.

-----

“As you wish,” Lancer said as she let her Master lead the way back to the city. However, when they were not that far away from it, the silver-haired Valkyrie stopped and said, “That said, shopping will have to wait. I feel a battle happening not very far from us, we can use it as a chance to study our adversaries. However, you may wish to hide your presence; until we know for sure, we should assume that we are under constant surveillance.”

“More than anything else, I want to see what kind of Heroic Spirits we are going to face. Even if Father cast me aside a long time ago, it’s still my duty to bear witness to their bravery and soon to come demise,” Lancer said with a very nostalgic, almost melancholic, voice.

It wouldn’t be long before they made it to the immediate vicinity of the park where the other two Servants were dueling. Before Lancer went made herself known, picked up a pair of pebbles, inscribed some runes into them and gave them to her Master. “I know you have the Command Spells for emergencies, but save them. If anything happens, use these first. They should produce a flash bright enough to momentarily disorient even a Servant, giving us enough time to retreat,” she said.

Once all the preparations were done, Lancer turned to her spirit form and flew towards the park. She landed atop one of the lampposts not that far away from the battle and observed the skills and techniques of both combatants. Of course, she was no Assassin, so it was only a matter of time before the other Servants, or maybe even the scaredy-cat Master in a position similar to Lancer’s own, noticed her presence.

“Uh… what are you--” Atalanta had to restrain herself from clawing Caster after being surprised by the blonde’s over enthusiastic hug. Before she had any chance to ask what the other Servant meant by fighting her, or even the identity of her sudden admirer, their Master allowed her to lead the way to Fenrir’s hideout.

“You owe me an explanation once we are done,” the feral Berserker said to Caster before they departed.

X X X

Atlanta summoned the Calydonian Boar’s pelt as soon as they reached the beast’s lair. “The scent of corruption is stronger here than anywhere else. The source of this whole incident must be right up ahead,” she said as they threaded the darkened ice halls.

It wouldn’t be long before the unavoidable battle broke loose. Atalanta charged forth as soon as Caster’s spells created an opening in Fenrir’s ice wall. Thanks to her Crossing Arcadia skills, she was able to weave unimpeded through incoming mass of shadow beings and the attacks of Archer and the Valkyries, reaching the other side in the blink of an eye.

“LANCER GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!” Atalanta howled as she kicked a couple of Fenrir’s summons into the pool of black mud and used them as stepping stones to reach Brynhildr. She tried to pull the other Servant out of there in a last attempt to avoid killing the Elder Valkyrie, however, if turned out that Brynhildr was truly beyond salvation, Atalanta didn’t have any qualms about ending her suffering then and there.

Lancer

“Ehh!?” Elizabeth was caught by surprise when the battle began. It wasn’t as if she didn’t knew what was about to happen but rather that the events that unfolded would be so… chaotic. However, nothing made the pink-haired Lancer more flabbergasted than the last individual that showed up.

“A fairy? What is someone of your kind doing here?” Elizabeth asked before the incoming horde forced her attention off of the newcomer. “You guys really don’t know when to stop, do you? Very well, then. The next performance is sure to send shivers up your spine!”

After saying her piece, Elizabeth stabbed her spear on the cavern floor and took a deep breath before letting out her melodic voice raising up the pitch until she found a frequency that resonated with the countless icicles littering the ceiling causing them to precipitate over the incoming enemies as a jagged rain of icy death.

“iF yOu InSiSt, SpArKlY--” Chie’s voice came out as a feral growl. It looked like her attack wouldn’t stop even when Tama intervened to cover the wasted Soma, at least until she did. An abrupt, jarring motion that seemed to defy laws of conservation of moment itself when the blade of Chie’s spear screeched to a halt a hair’s breadth away from making contact with the other magical girl’s barrier.

“...” Where before was rage now remained only silence as Chie rose head and looked towards some unseen yonder, not unlike a dog listening to a whistle from her owner. “Tsk, you are lucky. But don’t think this is the last time I see you,” Chie said as her voice came back to normal, even if it still had a feral touch to it. “Now that the Puppy is no more, you’ll be the one to give me some fun whether you want it or not,” she added before leaping away in the darkness right as the Nightmares began to crumble and break all around them.

“Now that we are s-set, should we get going already?” Leyna said, trying to get a hold of her shaky voice. Sophie’s bragging didn’t settle well with her, though and, while everyone else more or less decided to brush the comment off, Leyna couldn’t do so with a clean conscience.

“Hey, is there a reason for you to be like this? Trust is one of the pillars of an adventuring party, you know?” Lenya asked. The elf tried to be as little confrontational as possible as they left the guild building and found themselves staring at a very peculiar merchant.

“Tsk, you gotta do better if you wanna stop me, SHIELDY!” Chie yelled -- no, howled -- as she plunged through the still-forming tower. The dark-haired magical girl smashed against rock and vines, not even trying -- or being actually able to -- dodge Soma’s spear as it tore away at her, ripping a sizeable hole on her torso as well as taking one of Chie’s eyes with it.

Once Chie finally made it to the ground with a mighty crash, the light magical girls around her would be treated to an interesting sight. Despite her grievous wounds, not a single drop of blood or even gore came out of Chie. Instead of it, a mass of stringy-like darkness poured from her wounds, not unlike the very own nightmares that they fought. However, even more inhuman than that was her maddening grin, like endless rows of toothy fangs, smiling right at the weakened Soma.

“Get yourself together, Shieldy, I haven’t finished with you yet!” Chie(?) howled in a savage voice as she swung her spear in a wide arc intent on smashing Soma like a baseball, throwing the light magical girl against the sturdy walls that she was so proud of.